The existing state of art in the treatment of cancer includes Chemotherapy that involves the administration of different chemical compounds either alone or in combination of more than one such compounds in treatment of cancer either inhibiting growth or killing cancer cells. The most commonly employed chemically modified compounds like Paclitaxel from Pacific yew tree, Etoposide from Podophylum tree, and Vincristine from Vinca plant, while other compounds like Cisplatin, Mitomycin, Daunarubicin, Adriamycin, Interferrons are also employed. Radiotherapy is another type of therapy involved to shrink and destroy tumors by damaging the genetic material, making further growth and division impossible for the cells.
Cryotherapy is the creation of extreme cold environment using liquid nitrogen (or argon gas) which destroy abnormal tissue and used to treat external tumors, such as those on the skin. Immunotherapy is the utilization of toxin tagged with monoclonal antibodies in the treatment of cancer.
The most important drawback of all the above therapies is that, these harm healthy cells and damage different organs like heart, lungs, nerves, kidneys, or reproductive organs ultimate causing death. Other side effects include anemia, loss of appetite, hemorrhage, fatigue, flu-like symptoms, fluid retention, hair loss, infertility, mouth and throat changes, nausea and vomiting, pain, sexual changes, skin and nail changes, eye changes, urinary, kidney, and bladder changes.
Plants have a long history of use in the treatment of cancer. Plant-derived compounds have been an important source of several clinically useful anti-cancer agents. Numerous plant-derived compounds including vinblastine, vincristine, camptothecin derivatives, topotecan and irinotecan, etoposide, derived from epipodophyllotoxin, and paclitaxel (taxol) are used in cancer chemotherapy but most exhibit cell toxicity and can induce genotoxic, carcinogenic and teratogenic effects in non-tumor cells. These side effects limit the use of chemotherapeutic agents despite their high efficacy in treating target malignant cells. Therefore, the search for alternative drugs that are both effective and non-toxic in the treatment of cancers is an important research line.
Root bark of Ailanthus excelsa Roxb (Tree of Heaven), a tree, indigenous to central and southern India, belonging to family Simaroubaceae is widely used in Ayurveda and evidence based phytotherapy. Other species from this family are well known for their anti-cancer activities. Chemical constituents of A. excelsa include triterpenes and alkaloids. The aim of the present study was to evaluate the in vitro cytotoxic and in vivo anti-tumor effect of a new triterpenoid moiety (AECHL-1) isolated from the root bark of Ailanthus excelsa. 
AECHL-1 obtained from root bark of Ailanthus excelsa tree could overcome some of these drawbacks like hair loss, cardiotoxicity, hepatotoxicity, nephrotoxicity, at the effective dose level. Compared to other agents used in the treatment of tumors, AECHL-1 is a cost effective, being easily available from a plant as its source and is non toxic to normal cells unlike most of the anti-cancer agents.
The molecule of the present invention was isolated from the root bark of the tree Ailanthus excelsa, and has been shown to possess cytotoxic effect in various cancer cells. The anti-tumor effect of a molecule (designated AECHL-1) was very broad, because it blocked the growth of four tumor cell lines with distinct origins and of different p53 status (B16 mouse melanoma, PC3 human prostate cancer, MCF-7 and MDA-231 human breast cancer) and showed less cytotoxicity in normal human embryonic kidney cells HEK 293. In the tumors of different origin i.e. B16F10 and MCF-7 grown in C57 and nude mice respectively, AECHL-1 showed significant reduction in tumor volume. The two clinically useful agents, cisplatin and paclitaxel were used as reference standards for both in vitro and in vivo studies, where effects of AECHL-1 were found to be comparable with paclitaxel and cisplatin.
AECHL-1 inhibited cell viability/proliferation in a concentration-dependent manner. It showed inhibition of PC3 cell proliferation by arresting cell cycle in G2/M phase. In MDA-MB 231 cells, it arrested the growth in S-G2/M phase, while it showed growth arrest at G0/G1 phase in B16F10 cells. In MCF-7 cells it arrested the growth in S-G2/M phase.
It is the first time that the molecule is isolated and characterized from the Ailanthus excelsa and was also investigated for the reported properties.
Therefore no information on the knowledge of the present invention at national as well as international levels is available.